COMMON EVENT CATEGORIES
Memorable events make a lasting impression. A favorable, lasting impression will help to grow the spa's business through good reviews passed along by clients. There are various types of events that a spa may choose to hold, with each event option corresponding to a different objective.

Grand Opening – These events are smart investments for new spas or spas moving to or adding a new location. At a grand opening, professionals can showcase their spa, including all of the treatment rooms, and offer demonstrations of their products and services to entice prospective clients. Learn as much as possible about the demographic of the location, inviting the target market in that core area and neighboring communities.

Open House – Spas will host an open house in hopes of gaining new clientele and upselling their existing clients to new products and services. The open house is also the perfect opportunity for the community to meet the spa owner and the staff, allowing current and prospective clients to ask questions in a relaxed and fun environment. During the event, professionals can encourage the clientele to visit the spa and bring their coworkers and friends, offer special pricing on products or services that are purchased at the event, and hold raffles and give guests goodie bags with sample sizes of the products that are often supplied by vendors. They can also host a pre-event gathering for neighboring businesses to help get the word out. Do not forget to promote the event on social media and in the spa's newsletter.

Customer Appreciation – These events are always popular because everyone enjoys being appreciated. Customer appreciation events are the perfect opportunity for the spa to thank clients who have supported its growth and bring in new business! During these events, celebration can also be used to thank the staff.

Live Streaming – Tools such as Google Hangouts on Air, YouNow, MeerKat, and TwitchTV are opportunities for live engagement with clientele or prospects over the internet. Professionals can choose to share a PowerPoint presentation or deliver a live demonstration during the streaming session.

Educational Seminars – Deliver important information on new products or treatments to clients. Seminars explain the benefits of the product or treatment, allow time to answer questions, and often provide a treatment demonstration. Attendees should be offered a discount if they purchase products or schedule a treatment at the seminar.

Webinars – Webinars are an excellent way for professionals to showcase their expertise on a treatment or educate clients on ingredients and the proper usage of products. Many clients lead busy lives and find that they are unable to call the spa during business hours to ask questions. A live or pre-recorded webinar that is embedded into the spa's website can be the ticket to prospective sales for the spa. Because webinars take extensive planning, skin care professionals will need to research the topic, create content, and design the slides for the presentation.

A webinar can be an effective tool in creating a buzz related to a new product or treatment. Be sure to take adequate time when planning the webinar strategy. Webinars are also expected to be educational events, not sales platforms. Therefore, if the professional wishes to promote a product, they should do so subliminally. Do not forget to practice the presentation for timing.

Consider technology when deciding to add webinars to the event marketing strategy. How many clients will be logging in to the webinar portal? Will the webinar system accommodate the anticipated number of attendees? What is the quality of the connection? Does the presentation include video?

Furthermore, be sure to consider the client's computer savviness; they may have difficulty downloading software, for example. Professionals should also practice switching from a video to a PowerPoint presentation and consider that not all webinar systems accommodate videos within a presentation.

Professionals should research to see which of the many webinar companies best fits their needs. Citrix offers Go to Meeting, which can handle up to 25 attendees, and Go to Webinar, which can accommodate up to 1000 attendees.

REASONS FOR HOSTING AN EVENT
Although there are a number of reasons to host a spa event, a successful event will have been planned around a specific reason and will cater to that reason during the event.

Building the Brand – Events provide an opportunity to engage with clientele outside of the fast-paced workday. It is the professional's opportunity to share more about their business, goals, and vision with clients. Effective marketing strategies create a buzz about the spa and this event is an opportunity to build the spa's identity.

Creating Company, Product, and Treatment Awareness – An event for this reason is the professional's opportunity to share other products and treatments outside of that with which the client is familiar.

Engaging with Current and Future Clients – This spa event reason is a fun way to engage with clients on a more personal level. Skin care professionals should, however, be careful to always remain professional.

Generating Leads – At this type of event, professionals should encourage clients to bring friends, family, and coworkers.

Providing Education to Attendees – A short, informative, educational presentation by either a staff member or by one of the vendors can help to increase sales.

Increasing the Demand for Products and Treatments – Oftentimes, clients are unaware of all the opportunities available. This event should familiarize them with the spa offerings and pique their interest in trying different treatments.

Showcasing New Products or Treatments – During an event that centers around this reason, professionals should offer trial-sized samples of products or hold pre-scheduled demonstrations of featured treatments.

Upselling the Client – At this event, professionals can offer discounts on products and treatments, making it clear that these discounts will only be available at the event.

STEPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL EVENT
The Initial Meeting

Schedule an initial planning meeting at least three to four months prior to the event date, inviting the entire staff and encouraging their input. At this meeting, set specific goals and be prepared to assign the staff to various assignments throughout the planning stage and for the event itself. Explain the importance of the event and be sure to obtain their full engagement. It is also important to emphasize that all staff members must be involved in order for the event to be a success.

It is also important to set a budget prior to the meeting and stick to it. Share the budget with the staff in order to keep all suggestions in line with the financial goals.
During the meeting, finalize the date and time of the event, checking the calendar to be sure that it is not being set on a holiday or on a date that conflicts with a local major event. When selecting the time, take traffic into consideration.

Pick a theme during the initial meeting and keep in mind what type of theme the target market would enjoy, not just the staff members. A few great options are Girls Night Out, The Great Gatsby, The Oscars, Creep Night-Halloween, and New Years: A New You for the New Year!

Leading Up to the Event
Set up a system to track goal progress. Whether it involves pulling a sales report from the accounting software or tracking scheduled procedures via a spreadsheet, have some type of tracking system in place.

After the Event
Set a follow-up date within one week of the event to discuss feedback from the attendees. Their feedback will help determine what worked and what can be improved upon for the next event. Measure success by return on investment, determined by subtracting the revenues earned at the event by the expenses incurred to
host it.

MARKETING ASSIGNMENTS
When marketing an event, it is important to segment promotions to target the right audience. Professionals can also hire a graphic designer to create event flyers, e-mails, postcards, images for social media, and swag. Professionals can also consider adding an upcoming events page to the spa's website.

Using social media to promote big events is an excellent way to get the word out. It is also beneficial to contact bloggers and the media for participation. Creating a hashtag for the event and encouraging all attendees to promote the event with the hashtag and business name is a great social media tool. Furthermore, spas that utilize LinkedIn can add a Company Page to promote their event.

Utilize RSVPs whenever possible. Event invitation platforms like Evite, EventBrite, or Facebook, allow recipients to RSVP and can automatically create a reminder in their calendar.

PROPOSED MARKETING
PROMOTIONAL TIMELINE
Ten Weeks Prior – Hire a graphic designer to create marketing materials and consider donating partial proceeds to various charities to create additional publicity. Furthermore, contact other local businesses; teaming up with local vendors, like a catering company, promotes their businesses and helps to cut costs. Professionals can also ask their vendors to promote the event on their social media websites and provide raffle gifts and giveaways.

Eight Weeks Prior – Send out the save-the-date e-mails, being sure to personally invite local bloggers to the event. Post a flyer or invitation in the office so that clients will see the information when visiting the spa. At this time, begin posting weekly on social media websites, utilizing hashtags. Be sure to create an event special or insert a coupon into the e-mail to be used only at the event.

Four Weeks Prior – E-mail invitations to clients and prospects.
Three Weeks Prior – Send a direct mail invitation, such as a postcard or flyer, to clients and prospects.
Two Weeks Prior – Begin posting daily on social media about the event, counting down the days. Send a reminder e-mail to vendors and clients to confirm their attendance.
One Week Prior – Send a reminder e-mail to prospects and issue a press release to local media outlets.
Three Days Prior – Send a confirmation e-mail to attendees with the date, time, address, and directions.

The Day of the Event – Post a final reminder on social media that indicates that the spa is looking forward to seeing invited participants later that day. In this post, do not forget to give the time and address and use the hashtag. Encourage everyone to tweet and incorporate Instagram for instant photographs of the event! Create a selfie stand for event photographs and post-event engagements.

WEBINAR EVENT TIMELINE
Webinar topics should be chosen eight to 12 months prior to the event; at that time, begin creating the topic content. Select the speaker and create the PowerPoint six and five months prior to the event, respectively. Create promotional platforms and registration and landing pages two to three months out and begin social media and press release promotions one to two months prior. Social media promotions should be continued up until the day of the event. Twenty-four to 48 hours after the webinar, send out a post-webinar event survey and evaluate the webinar's success.

When hosting a spa event, the value of efficient planning cannot be overstated. In order to plan for a successful event, define the goal, develop a detailed plan, complete tasks on time, and stick to the plan.

Brenda Linday, L.E., is a licensed aesthetic instructor and certified aesthetic consultant with over 12 years of experience in the medical aesthetic industry. She offers consulting services to medical and aesthetic companies desiring to build strong sales and education teams. She also develops educational and engagement-marketing content for employees, contractors, practitioners, and industry distributors around
the world.

Cerissa Linday is an award-winning graphic designer with more than 10 years of marketing experience serving the medical aesthetic and insurance industries. Linday has won seven GDUSA In-house Design Awards during her career. Her specialties include print/digital design, branding, and social media marketing. As with any creative artist, Linday thrives on bringing her clients' visions to fruition. She believes the path to branding and marketing success lies in cohesion, consistency,
and innovation.